Blogs from Baalbek, Lebanon, Middle East - page 3

Approximately 90 kilometers northeast of the city of Beirut in eastern Lebanon stands the magnificent temple complex of Baalbek, the ruins are one of the holiest places of ancient times. Before the Romans conquered the site and built their enormous temple of Jupiter, long even before the Phoenicians constructed a temple to the god Baal, there stood at Baalbek the largest stone block construction found in the entire world. The Phoenician word Baalbek means "God of the Bekaa valley". Ancient legends assert that Baalbek was the birthplace of Baal, later the town became known as Heliopolis, the "City of the Sun"... - Beirut - The day after our roadtrip up north to Byblos and Tripoli, Omar left in the morning by plane to Cairo. We drove him to the airport and had a minor car accident ... read more

High plateau between the mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges, linking the Syrian interior with the coastal cities of ancient Phoenicia. Used to be very much agricultural, it isn't that much flousishing anymore, apart from the "cannabis" cropping. Fortunately, it is now better known as the centre of Lebanon's burgeoning wine industry. From Beyrouth, which is my starting point for every trip I make inside the country, I have been so far to Baalbek and Zahle. Baalbek, mostly notorious back in the 80's for being the seat of Hezbollah (party of God) and helding hostages hidden in the valley ( such as William Buckley, head of the CIA at that time), it is still the "Sun" city of the Ancient world and the most important Roman site of the whole Middle East (dixit The Lonely Planet, ... read more

Let me start out by saying that Lebanon is one of my favorite countries on the planet. I didn’t see all of it, and it is not that large to begin with. However, what I did see was truly amazing. When I first found out that the travel study component of my semester in Egypt would be spending a week in Turkey, a little less than a week in Syria, and a whole week just in Beirut, I thought that the scale was a little tipped. NO way! Well worth the time. But I am getting ahead of myself. First things first! From the Syrian side, crossing into the Bekaa Valley was not much of an ordeal. Changing money into lire was straightforward, and none of us had any stamps in our passports that would serve ... read more